Featuring Brenda Poon, PhD (Assistant Professor, Human Early Learning Partnership, University of British Columbia), Joanne Schroeder (Senior Policy Fellow, Human Early Learning Partnership), and Efren Aguilar (GIS Unit Chief, Center for Healthier Children, Families, and Communities) this webinar will illustrate how to take a community-based systems approach to measurement.

This webinar will provide an overview of an approach being trialed in British Columbia to build compassionate leadership within the child serving systems. The Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) has been collecting population level data on young children for over 15 years and working with communities to create change. The Compassionate Systems leadership approach recognizes that enduring change requires a multi-sectoral approach engaging the hearts and minds of community systems. The approach consists of three interconnected learning domains: intrapersonal, interpersonal and systems thinking. The presentation will articulate the components of the approach and relate the learnings from the initial delivery of the program in three B.C. communities.

The webinar will also explore the ways in which the Early Development Instrument (EDI) is implemented in practice, in order to engage all segments of the community in collective work to improve local early childhood programs, systems and policies. The Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities is expanding implementation of the EDI in cities and communities across Los Angeles County and the greater United States area. Cutting-edge GIS and web-based technologies are used to support planning and evaluation practices that emphasize the impact of neighborhood conditions on individual and community health. The work emphasizes the democratization of data and inclusion of local residents in developing community-based planning efforts, actionable research, and place-based funding decisions.

Brenda Poon, PhD (Assistant Professor, Human Early Learning Partnership, University of British Columbia)

Joanne Schroeder (Senior Policy Fellow, Human Early Learning Partnership)

Efren Aguilar (GIS Unit Chief, Center for Healthier Children, Families, and Communities)

Webinar recording available here

Slides available here and here